Development and Demonstration of the Simulated Model Office. Interim Evaluative Report.

Omvig, Clayton P.; Thomas, Edward G.

The simulated model office idea is to create, within a school, a unit which is as much like a real-life business as possible. To test the feasibility of incorporating this concept into high school business programs, a comparison was made between an experimental group of office simulation students and a control group of cooperative office practice students, students from a 1-hour office practice class and students from a 2-hour office practice class. Using a pretest-posttest design, data were collected by means of typing tests, attitude scales, filing tests, and tests covering other aspects of office work. At the time this interim report was written, no substantial conclusions could be drawn as to which approach to office education is best. It was recommended that future studies should be conducted, using larger sample sizes, more variables, better instruments, and the analysis of covariance technique. Based on the limited evaluation data available, the model office appears to be a viable approach to synthesizing a student's knowledges and skills prior to actual employment. (JS)